


She Looked Like A Wildfire

by TheSwordLesbian



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Trans Female Character, Trans Vex'ahlia (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 21:39:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18396863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwordLesbian/pseuds/TheSwordLesbian
Summary: Vax was sure of a lot of things in life. He was sure that he was probably attracted to the man that ran the bookstore, and he was sure he would probably ask him on a date within the next few days. He was sure that his father was an asshole, and that he missed his mother dearly. And he was definitely sure that his late night, drunken decision to shave half of his friend’s beard was probably going to come back to bite him sometime in the near future. But one thing he wasn’t quite sure of, was why he was helping his sister push a dead, old, rusty, and let’s not forget stolen motorcycle uphill, on the hottest day of summer.





	1. Where did you steal it from?

Vax was sure of a lot of things in life. He was sure that he was probably attracted to the man that ran the bookstore, and he was sure he would probably ask him on a date within the next few days. He was sure that his father was an asshole, and that he missed his mother dearly. And he was definitely sure that his late night, drunken decision to shave half of his friend’s beard was probably going to come back to bite him sometime in the near future. But one thing he wasn’t quite sure of, was why he was helping his sister push a dead, old, rusty, and let’s not forget stolen motorcycle uphill, on the hottest day of summer. 

“Gods I picked a terrible day to wear heels.” Vex’ahlia muses, interrupting her brother’s pondering.

“Well dear sister,” Vax grunted as they heaved the bike uphill, nearing the top at this point, “you’re the one that decided to steal a motorcycle from a garbage dump run by a lunatic, and push it down the road!”

“My darling brother, first of all, we wouldn’t have even been walking by the dump if you hadn’t spent so much time flirting with Shaun.” She fired back. “We would have been able to get a ride home from Keyleth before she had to go meet her father.”

“Okay how in the world are you making this my fault-”

“Secondly!” She interrupted, “you of all people should be the last one to lecture me about stealing something. Besides, Blanston won’t even know its gone, and technically it was outside the property line anyway.”

“Important distinction, it may have been ‘outside the fence’,” he said gesturing quotes, “but that was because the fence had fallen in around it. Technically it was still inside the property line. And as for whether he will know, he definitely seems like the kind of creep that has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything in that dump.”

“Oh my gods, it will be fine.” Vex groaned, “Besides, we’re up the hill now and we don’t have very far left to go.”

“What are you talking about?” He said taking break from pushing now that they had reached the top. “Our apartment is still two miles from here.”

“We aren’t taking it to our house.” she said smirking at him.

Vax looked off in the direction they were headed trying to piece together his twin’s apparently well thought out plan. “Freddy’s?”

“Correct darling.” She said as she began pushing the rusty bike again. “His family’s house is only a quarter mile from here, he has a shop, and he has a far better grasp on mechanics than you or I or any of the rest of our friends.”

That much was true he thought, and resigned himself to continuing to push his sister’s stolen treasure.

* * *

Percival steadied himself as he carefully placed the spring into the mechanism and began to screw it in place. “Carefully.” He says to himself trying his best to hold the spring in and not allow it to fly loose and shoot across the room, again. And just as he has it correctly aligned, his cell phone buzzes violently on the workbench causing him to startle and loosen his grasp. 

“For the love of Pelor!!” he shouts watching the spring fly across the shop, again. He sighs as he picks up his phone to view the offending text.

 **Vex’ahlia:** _Percival darling, would you be so kind as to open the front gate._

He was about to ask why she couldn’t just use the side door when he felt a follow-up buzz

 **Vex’ahlia:** _My brother and I are here with something interesting for you._

He looked at the disassembled revolver on his workbench, old family piece. It had fallen off the mantle and he was trying to repair it. With a sigh he put the cloth back over it, deciding to leave it for later, then sent Vex a response saying he’d be right up.

Upon opening the gate he saw his friends standing in front of what he could only describe as the filthiest motorcycle he had ever seen. He was honestly surprised it still had tires on it with the shape it looked in. And while Vax’ildan had found himself content with looking at his phone, his sister was striking a pose that Percy thought very reminiscent of one of those prize girls on a tv game show.

“What do you think?!” She beamed at him.

“How wonderful!” He retorted, a thick air of sarcasm to his voice. “You’ve brought me a pile of rust! Tell me, are we to take wagers on how long before the wind blows it away?”

She didn’t seem amused but he did receive a small chuckle from the other twin.

“Oh you’re so funny Percy.” she said slightly annoyed.

“I’m sorry darling. So what is this that you’ve brought me?” He said walking around the bike, seemingly inspecting it.

“Well,” Vex following behind him, “we found this bike,” this elicited another chuckle from her brother, “and I was hoping you’d be able to help me fix it. Seeing as you’re so much better with these kind of things.” She was sure she probably didn’t need to butter Percy up but flattery never usually hurt.

“Well it certainly is interesting, you were right about that.” He said squatting down to get a closer look at it. “It's not any kind of model I’m familiar with, which means it’s probably not one made in Tal’Dorei. Where did you steal it from?” he said almost jokingly.

“I didn’t ste-”

“Blanston.” Vax interrupted, not looking up from his phone.

“Vax’ildan!!” Vex shouted.

“What?” He said finally putting his phone away, “He would have found out anyway.”

Percival looked at Vex’ahlia once she had finished glaring at her brother. “See,” He remarked as he stood back up to look at her from eye level, “I was making a joke. This is where you tell me that you were also joking and that you didn’t steal this from the crazy garbage man.”

“Okay,” Vex said steeling herself. “We didn’t steal it from the crazy garbage man.”

Percival just stared at her for a bit before sighing. “Well the good news is,” as he pointed to the neck of the bike, “anything even remotely resembling a VIN number is nothing but rust at this point. So even if he did come looking for it, he couldn’t possibly prove it was his. Alright, I’ll help you fix it.”

“Wonderful! Let’s get started.” She tried to not sound as ecstatic as she was about Percy agreeing to help her with the bike.

“First step is to push it into my workshop and then tomorrow we-”

“Tomorrow!?” Vex exclaimed, cutting Percy off. “Why tomorrow.”

“Because it’s 7pm” Vax pointed out.

“Yes and I’m pretty much done working for the day anyway.” Percy continued, “Pike and Grog are coming over soon with dinner, which you two are more than welcome to stay for. And I think Scanlan is bringing his daughter with him after his shift at the station is up.”

“Kaylie’s in town?” She asked, “And, you’re okay with her being here? You didn’t seem too keen on her the last time she visited.”

“Yes well.” he paused seeming to try to word himself carefully. “While she may not have the most reputable past, Cassandra seems to think she’s alright. And gods know Cass hasn’t really had any friends since…. Well you know…’

“Yeah, we know.” she said, trying to be somewhat comforting.

“So,” He continued. “I’m going to be nice, and hope she doesn’t steal anything.”

“Alright.” Vex said trying to change the subject. “We’ll stay for dinner. Kiki’s out of town for the weekend anyway.”

“Yes I was going to ask where your other half was. Cass said she wants to rebuild mother’s garden, and I figured Keyleth would be the best person to ask.”

“Oh she’s visiting her father in Zephrah, she won’t be back until monday.” Vex said before adding, “And I think it’s really great that Cassandra wants to rebuild the garden, it seems like it meant a lot to your mother.”

“Yes well,” Percy said, seemingly trying to find a way out of this conversation. Emotional vulnerability isn’t one of his more practiced skills.

Vex noticing this brought the conversation back around to the initial reason for their visit, “So should we push this to your shop?”

“Yes please, “He responded, grateful for the change of subject, “Let’s move it before it disintegrates in my driveway.”

Vex glared at him as the three of them began pushing the vehicle in the direction of Percy’s workshop.

* * *

“I still don’t see why we couldn’t have stayed for dinner!” Vex declared as the twins climbed the steps to their apartment. 

Byroden Arms wasn’t the nicest home they could have asked for, but it was better than living in Syngorn with their father, something neither of the twins ever wanted to do again. In fact if it weren’t for their love of their little sister, it’s very likely they would broken off contact with their father years ago.

“Look, I would have liked to stay for dinner as well.” Her brother replied, unlocking the door to their shared home, “but we both know you have a project for your class to work on.”

“I presented it in class today.” she said. 

“Right, that’s why you were dressed up.” he suddenly remembered, “Well, I mean, we’re both so dirty from moving that bike, we couldn’t have dinner and lay around Freddy’s house covered in dirt and rust.” 

Vex crossed her arms as she stood across the living room from her brother, “A. That house has numerous bathrooms, B. I’m pretty sure we all have a change of clothes there from the last time we went camping, and C. Grog was sitting on Percy’s couch covered in mud from work last week and no one cared.” she was sure at this point he was clearly making excuses for something.

“Well…” He tried to think of a valid response. “I, just didn’t think I should be there tonight.”

“And why not?” she demanded

“Because” he paused thinking of how to carefully word his following admission. “I may or may not have, in a state of inebriation, done something to Grog that, at the time, I thought would be quite hilarious. However upon waking up this morning to a text that said ‘When I see you you’re dead.’ I’m starting to think Grog might not have been nearly as amused by it as I was…”

Vex’ahlia just stared at her brother, judging him silently.

Fortunately the tension was soon broken by a gigantic ball of fur knocking Vax to the ground and licking him furiously, apparently their conversation waking the sleeping malamute from down the hall.

“Hello- nephew- it’s nice- to see- you- too.” he responded in between licks from the massive dog.

“No no Trinket” The dog stopping to look at his mother, “Vax was very naughty today so he doesn’t get any kisses” she says cooing at her beloved pet and squishing his face.

“I may not get kisses but could he at least get off me? He’s quite large.” He pleaded from underneath the huge, excited canine.

Vex considers his request for a moment before patting her son on the head and telling him, “Now Trinket you be good and sit right there for me while I go get cleaned up and changed into something to sleep in.”

“So I’ll just lay here then?” Vax calls to his sister as she walks away. “You’re going to let me up eventually right?” He pleads loudly as Vex closes the bathroom door. “How long are you going to leave me like this?!” He shouts.

As he hears the shower start he sighs and prepares himself to be stuck like this for at least the next twenty to thirty minutes. Looking up at the panting mass of furry dog staring back at him, he smiles. “Trinket will you get off me if I go get you a sausage?”


	2. She's a very interesting person

The next morning, Vex’ahila was finally awoken by the sunlight peeking through the window, accomplishing the task of the alarm she had been stubbornly ignoring. She didn’t really want to get up early on a saturday but Percy said he wanted to get started before noon so she sighed before struggling herself out of the blankets. At some point in the night Trinket had apparently wandered in and snuggled up to her, but even sharing the bed with him there was still plenty of room. She looked lovingly at the other side of the bed, which was mostly still made, seeing as her beloved redhead was away for the weekend. After musing for a moment she grabbed her medications and phone off the side table before heading towards the bathroom to get ready. She noticed she had a missed text and opened the screen to read it while brushing her teeth.

 **Kiki:** _Good morning sleepyhead! Missed not waking up next to you, I’ll call you later. <3_

She couldn’t help but smile through the toothpaste reading the message, though her loving mood was abruptly shattered upon putting her phone down and looking in the mirror to see her brother standing behind her.

“Gods dammit Vax what the fuck!!” she shouted jumping to the side and suppressing the impulse to deck the intruder.

“Fucking hells don’t hit me Stubby!” he said putting up his hands to guard, “I just wanted to see how easy it was to sneak up on you.”

She smacked him on the shoulder before trying to push him out of the bathroom. “It’s not easy! You’re just creepily quiet!”

“Hey I resent th-” he started to respond before she slammed the door.

“Ohh Pelor’s Grace you’re a pain sometimes,” she muttered quietly.

“Love you too dear sister!” Vax shouted from the other room apparently having heard her.

As she finished brushing Vex’ahlia stood to look at herself in the mirror, looking at herself, and how far she’d come from how she used to be. She smiled and felt a sense of mild contentment, if for no other reason than the fact that she had finally become, after so much struggle and hatred from herself and others, happy with who she is. She smiled again before downing her morning medications and heading out to put on some clothes. Normally she showered in the mornings but seeing as she showered last night and she was about to go do something that would surely result in her being filthy, she opted out of it. Digging around for clothes she didn’t mind ruining she discovered a pair of overalls that were definitely Keyleth’s, which meant that she had to roll the legs up since she was a fair bit shorter than her girlfriend, a tank top, and some old tennis shoes. She then clipped her blue feathers into her hair and began loosely braiding it before scratching the sleeping Trinket’s head as she walked out to the front. “Don’t sleep too late buddy.”

“Do you want some breakfast?” Vax asked from the kitchen.

“No thanks darling!” She shouted as she was almost out the door, “If I get hungry I’ll raid Percy’s kitchen.” she opted out of telling him that she wasn’t up for whatever egg-related disaster he was making this time and instead finished with “ And take my son out for a walk please!” before closing the door behind her.

She decided to take one of the many nature trails that littered the more woodsy areas of Emon as a shortcut to Percival’s house. She didn’t have a working car right now and buses didn’t really travel through Whitestone, it being one of the more wealthy districts and all. But a quick hike would be good, it was only a couple of miles anyway and the weather was nice, besides she knew this trail so well she could walk it blindfolded. And in no time she had arrived at the de Rolo estate, since the fastest way to the shop was straight through the house she rang the front doorbell. 

After a while the door slowly creaked open just a bit as someone carefully peaked out, before opening fully, it was Cassandra, Percy’s younger sister, and rather tragically the only surviving member of his family. “Oh, hello Vex’ahila,” the younger girl said with an almost pained air of formality, “Percival said you’d be coming today, he’s in his workshop already.”  
“Thank you Cass,” Vex answered as Cassandra let her through the door, “Are you doing alright lately? Percy said Kaylie was coming over with Scanlan last night, did you two enjoy hanging out?”

“Yes,” she answered sheepishly, “she’s a very interesting person, I think we’re both looking forward to becoming better friends”

“Well that sounds fantastic!” Vex said, “it's always wonderful to make new friends. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go assist your brother before he inevitably gives himself tetanus.”

“That’s probably wise,” Cass replied, “Also he said you probably skipped breakfast so he left an extra danish for you in the kitchen.”

“Wonderful.” Vex said as she made her way toward the back door through the kitchen, snagging her pastry on the way.

Percy’s “workshop” was essentially just the estate’s detached garage, even for a wealthy family the de Rolos didn’t really own many cars before the Briarwoods, and they certainly didn’t own any afterwards. So he basically just claimed the space as his own then proceeded to move all of his tools and equipment here from his tiny workshed. One of the primary benefits to the larger space being, it was better insulated than the shack he was in previously, which helped to mitigate winter and suppress the loud sounds he usually made while working, so as not to spook Cassandra. And the other useful feature would be the large garage doors that could be opened to provide decent ventilation, which Percy almost never used. And judging from the closed doors, he certainly wasn’t using them now, Vex thought as she approached the shop.

She opened the door and jumped back as an orange cloud of presumably dust and rust filtered out, “Oh gods Percy, why do you do this?” she said to herself as she covered her face and reached inside pressing the button to open the large garage doors. She stood back as the cloud filtered out of the doors enough to notice the white-haired man standing there, thankfully he was wearing a respirator mask.

“Oh good you’re here!” he shouted, realising he was mostly muffled he removed the mask before continuing, “I’ve made the most amazing discovery.” He walked over to the motorcycle which seemed to be remarkably cleaner and most likely the source of the toxic cloud. “After blasting it with compressed air I’ve discovered that there was a vehicle under all this!’ 

Realising now that he was making a joke she narrowed her eyes at him as she walked into the shop, “Oh what a funny joke! You’re so clever.” her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“I’m remarkably clever thank you very much. But jokes aside I have some good news and some, less than good news.” he said looking somewhat dismayed.

“Alright, what’s the good news?” she asked.  
He gestured for her to come over and look with him before replying, “Well the good news is, it’s not as bad off as we initially thought. It mostly appears to have just been extremely dirty with some exterior rust on it.”

And Vex did have to admit, the bike definitely looked better than it had 12 hours ago, so feeling as though she was setting herself up for incoming disappointment she asked, “And the, not so good news?”

Percy scratched his head for a moment, seemingly mulling over how best to explain the issue. “The problem is,” He finally said, “When I said last night that this was not a model I was familiar with, apparently it goes far beyond that. I did some research on it and, no one is familiar with this model.”

She stared at him, somewhat confused by this information. “Wait what do you mean ‘no one is familiar with this model’?”

“I mean despite everything I’ve looked up I can’t find hardly anything about this bike. Its not part of any factory line of motorcycles, from anywhere.” He paused before carefully wording his next reply. “Which means, in all likelihood, this bike was probably custom built from the ground up.”

Vex thought for a moment, this is certainly is news but is it bad news? “So wait, why is this the ‘not so good news’?”

“Well you see, if this was a common, or even an uncommon vehicle, then spare parts and information manuals wouldn’t be very hard to come by. Or even if they were hard to come by, we’d at least know what parts we needed. But seeing as this is custom bike, if there are any parts that are too far gone for me to just ‘fix’” he said emphasizing the last word with air quotes, “then I have no idea what parts to look for.”

“Oh…” Vex felt her heart sink, if parts couldn’t be replaced then her hopes of flying down the road with the wind in her hair had been dashed upon the rocks. After a long silence she finally spoke again, “So does this mean, that you can’t fix it?” She looked at him sadly, seemingly on the verge of tears.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” He said looking vaguely insulted that she would suggest he couldn’t fix something. “Of course I can fix it! All this means is that I’m now annoyingly invested in this endeavor. Because I am Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski De Rolo III and I will certainly not be outsmarted by a rust-covered motorcycle.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his response, and at the same time feel somewhat relieved that, when it came to tinkering Percy was probably the most stubborn person on the face of Exandria. There wasn’t a machine or device in existence that he wasn’t capable of repairing. And to top it all off, now it had become a challenge for him, which meant he’d work unnecessarily hard to complete it. She made a mental note to make sure he took regular breaks to eat, sleep, and go to class, because when he gets wrapped up in something like this he completely forgets to take care of himself. And now that her dreams had become undashed, it’s time to get to work.

“So where do we start?” She said stepping forward, ready to assist in whatever way she could. Machines and vehicles weren’t her strong suit but she wanted this, badly, so she would try her best.

“Well first we should take some reference pictures of it, then we need to completely dismantle it, and take notes of every part and where it came from.” he declared, handing her a note pad, “I’ll start taking parts off and we’ll catalogue everything as we go.”

“Wonderful darling!” she said excitedly picking up the pen to get started. “Let’s get started!”

* * *

Seven hours, and a few nice sandwiches courtesy of Cassandra, later and the once dirt-encrusted motorcycle had been completely reduced to a well organized pile of parts. Everything was grouped and labeled, Vex had pages upon pages of notes and rough sketches, and the two of them were absolutely filthy, from head to toe.

“Well,” Percy said, dusting clouds of dirt and rust off his pants. “I think we can call that a successful day. And I’d say we’re at a decent stopping point so we’ll probably just call it quits for today. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to spray myself off with the air hose because Cass will definitely kill me if I track any of this into the house.”

“Alright then, she said handing over the notepad, “I’ll walk on home then. Vax will probably have some takeout ready.”

“You’re going to walk home? He looked at her surprised, “wouldn’t you rather Cass or I drove you?”

“Of course not, I’m filthy,” she gestured to her clothes, “If I sat in your car like this I’m pretty sure I’d ruin the interior. Besides the trail I took here isn’t even that long. I’ll be alright.”

“Well then, if you’re sure then I won’t stop you.” his slight concern still evident in his voice. “We’ll pick this up again sometime later this week.”

“Later this week? She asked, “Not tomorrow?”

“No…” He said sounding suddenly far older than his age. “Tomorrow Cassandra and I are going to,” he seemed to struggle with finding the right words, a rarity for Percival, “We’re going to visit family.”

“Oh darling, I’m sorry.” She moved to hug him, “you two take all the time you need love. We’ll continue this another day.”

“Yes.” He said trying to snap himself out of his sudden funk, “We’ll work on this later. And in the meantime I’ll start looking at these.” He waved the notepad full of part descriptions as he sat down on one of his shop stools. “Now you run along home, you should probably make sure your brother hasn’t burned down the house in your absence.”

She laughed, “Yes what will I do with him?” Her demeanor changed, “Thank you Percy, this really means a lot to me. And,” she hesitated slightly, “I hope everything goes alright. Tomorrow I mean.”

“Thank you Vex,” He looked up at her, “you’re a truly remarkable friend. Have a goodnight darling.” 

“Goodnight Percy,” she said smiling at him before turning to walk off toward the gate and the trail towards home.

Percy just sat there for a moment, running his hand through his hair. The only outward sign of him having been through far more than someone so young should have. After a moment he finally stood up from his seat and pushed the button to close the shop before heading up towards the house.

* * *

Vex’ahlia was starting to think maybe she should have taken Percy up on his offer for a ride home as her legs were burning going up the stairs to her apartment. Why did she have to live on the third floor? Why were her legs so sore? She got the impression it was probably due to all the standing, kneeling, and squatting she did today. But nevertheless she made it all the way up to her door and after resting for a second she dug the keys out of the pocket of her borrowed overalls. But upon opening the door her exhaustion was immediately forgotten due to the amazing aroma of food drifting through the home. To any other person this might be a welcome situation but considering Vax was an abysmal cook she was suddenly very curious as to who was in her kitchen. Being as quiet as she could manage she closed and locked the door back before creeping through the living room towards the kitchen. Looking around she didn’t see Trinket anywhere, another concern, no giant dog meant no one to help her if someone really had broken into her house. As she rounded the corner of the wall separating the kitchen from the dining area she saw the intruder, although she didn’t turn out to be much of an intruder, considering she also lived there, and was Vex’s girlfriend.

“Keyleth?”

“Oh my gods!” The taller woman shouted practically jumping as she clutched her chest and turned around to see who was behind her. “Oh! Vex! Hi.” she said, smiling but still breathing heavily from her fright.

“Oh shit! Darling I’m so sorry.” Vex apologized. Realising she had thoroughly startled her girlfriend moved into the kitchen and pulled Keyleth into her arms. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. And I came home and the house smelled amazing and I knew it couldn’t be Vax, so I snuck in to see what was going on and, I’m really sorry I scared you.”

“Oh that’s okay! I mean I was startled but it’s just you so that’s fine and my dad got called away on business so I came home early and Vax said you were at Percy’s so I wanted to surprise you with a nice dinner but it looks like you surprised me and I’m sorry dinner’s not ready yet but it will be soon and-” she stops her rambling mid sentence to gasp for air since she had seemingly forgotten to breathe while talking.

“Kiki, breathe love. It’s alright.” Vex looked away from her girlfriend to look at the amazing smelling food around the kitchen in various stages of preparation. “You did all this for me? That’s so sweet.” She says as she reaches up to brush a lock of Keyleth’s fiery red hair out of her face, causing her cheeks to blush almost dark enough to match her hair.

“Yeah well, you’re really awesome and nice and I wanted to do something nice for you and, Gods you’re so beautiful…” she said seemingly stunned by Vex’s presence in front of her before looking down and noticing her clothes, “annnd what in Melora’s name is all over your clothes?!”

Vex looked shocked for a second before looking down and remembering that she was covered in dirt and rust and laughing. “Oh my Gods Key I’m so sorry I’ve gotten dirt all over you.” she said still chuckling. “Percival was helping me with this project I’ve started and,” she holds up her filthy hands while still smiling, “it was quite a dirty project.”

“Oh! Okay, well that’s cool. I uh-” Keyleth looked down at her own clothes, “I don’t think you really got any on me. So if you want to go get cleaned up I can finish up dinner?”

“Well that sounds like a wonderful idea. But first,” Vex put her hands on either side of the taller woman’s face before pulling her into a tender kiss, as their lips meet she inhales and is intoxicated by how amazing Keyleth always seems to smell. Like incense, and fresh grass, and home cooked food. She thinks about how no matter how many times she kisses her girlfriend she’ll never get tired of how beautiful she smells. When they finally break apart Keyleth inhales deeply before touching her forehead to Vex’s.

“I missed you.” she said softly. “I know I was only gone for a day but it’s just so nice to be back in your arms.”

“I missed you too darling.” Vex looked up into her eyes before leaning up to kiss her on the cheek and part from her love to head towards the bathroom “And now, I’m going to go shower because I am horrendously dirty. Back in a bit Key.”

“Okie, have fun!” She waved at Vex adorably before brushing off her newly acquired dust layer and washing her hands to continue cooking.

Vex closed the bathroom door behind her and took a moment to lean her back against it. Blissful smile still on her face. “Gods I love that woman.”


	3. You make me happy

“Vex….. Veeex…… Vex’aaaahliaaa.” Keyleth’s voice becoming more sing-song each time.

Vex opened her eyes to see Keyleth peering at her from the edge of the bed. Her face an absolute representation of the fact that she was every bit the morning person that Vex was not. “Unnnnhhh! Five more minutes Key.” Vex groaned pulling the covers over her head.

“No no no! Please don’t go back to sleep, that’s what you said five minutes ago, and ten minutes ago.” Keyleth pleaded, trying to get her girlfriend to wake up. “You asked me to wake you up so we could go to Percy’s. Look, I even made you some breakfast.”

Vex now realising that she could smell coffee peeked her head out from under the blanket and saw Keyleth holding a tray with what she assumed to be a small breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee. “You made me breakfast in bed?” She asked looking somewhat bewildered.

“Well I mean, it’s not really like a feast or anything, but yeah. I know you’re not exactly a morning person so I thought you might like something tasty to start the day with. Enjoy!” She said, offering the tray to Vex.

Vex’ahlia just looked down at the tray in front of her then back up to Keyleth. This definitely isn’t the first time Keyleth has made her breakfast in bed, a handful of times in the few months they’d been dating, and once before when she was on bedrest after coming home from the hospital. But every time it still blew her mind, it’s not something her mother could really afford to do, and it’s definitely too caring for her father to have done it. It’s such a small act but it means a lot more to Vex than it would to most people. “Thanks Key, this is like, really nice.”

“Oh, It’s okay.” blushing slightly and looking away, like she did whenever her girlfriend paid her compliments. “It’s not really that big of deal.”

“No.” Vex interrupted her before she could deride herself, putting her hands on either side of Keyleth’s face and turning her head to look her in the eyes. “It is a big deal. It’s incredibly sweet and it makes me so happy whenever you do it.”

“Seeing you happy makes me happy.” Keyleth replied. “I love making you smile.”

“You make me happy,” she said pulling her girlfriend in for a kiss, brushing her cheek with her thumb.

After a short time they pull apart, both smiling at each other. “You should eat, babe.” Keyleth said pointing at the tray. “Before it gets cold i mean.”

“Thanks darling.” vex replied taking a sip of her coffee. “I’ll finish this and we can head out soon.”

“Great!” she beamed. “I’ll go take Trinket for a walk while you eat. Come on buddy!”

Trinket who had been pretending to be asleep this whole time bounded off the bed and down the hall after Keyleth. 

Vex smiled at the two of them before continuing to sip her coffee and starting in on her small breakfast. This was proving to be a pretty fantastic day right from the start. She was excited to see what else the universe had in store.

* * *

Keyleth’s minivan wasn’t the most sporty or sleak of transportation, and more than once she’d been confused for a young soccer mom because of it but she loved it all the same. It was inexpensive, the sliding door made it easy for her to load and carry around trays of plants and flowers, and it had enough seats for all her friends which was the main reason she was the driver whenever the group went anywhere. Grog got the seat next to the door, because of his size mostly but once or twice he’d become carsick and being right there had saved him from having to clean the floorboard. Percy was next to Grog in the other single seat, initially he’d been up in the front seat but he happily gave up his spot when Vex had started dating Keyleth. And the back seat was shared by Scanlan and Pike since they were smaller than the rest and didn’t mind, and Vax who claimed he liked it back there. 

Today however they were using it because if Keyleth was going to help Cass do some gardening, she’d need to bring tools and things to work with. Percy had said that their mother had a shed with some tools, but that those were her tools, and as such neither he nor Cass were really ready to dig through that yet. Which was okay since Keyleth was happy to bring her own. As they pulled up to the gate Vex pressed the button on the opener Percy had given them. He’d made extras for all of their group that had cars since it saved him or Cass the trouble of having to come open the gate themselves.

As Keyleth pulled the van around the drive towards the house Vex stopped her, “You can just let me out here Key, I’ll walk down the drive to the shop and you can park at the house.”

“Okay!” Keyleth responded, stopping the car to let her out. “Just text if you guys need anything and I’ll bring it down.”

“Have fun darling,” she leaned over to give her a quick kiss before opening the door and heading down the drive. 

As she walked towards the shop she sighed that once again Percy had left the doors closed. Upon entering however, she found him apparently passed out at his workbench. She reached up and pushed the button to open the nearest large door to let the sunlight in and apparently the noise was enough to startle him awake.

“BAH!! STAY BACK!! I WON’T LET YOU TAKE HER AGAIN!!” He shouted, as he jumped off his stool and brandished a screwdriver before realising he was in his shop, with no one but Vex. “Oh uh, sorry.” he said looking down at the tool for a moment before setting it back on his bench. “Bad dream.”

“Percival are you alright? Why are you sleeping in your workshop?” she asked.

“The sleeping was unintentional I suppose,” he replied trying to straighten out his appearance. “I was up late trying to figure out this monstrosity.” he said, gesturing to the pile of parts.

“Why what’s wrong with it.” she asked.

“It’s insane!” he exclaimed, pacing around the shop “Whoever made this bike is a complete madman! Or a genius. Or maybe both. I don’t really know but it’s driving me mad.”

Vex walked over to the man and led him to a sit to try and calm down his erratic, probably sleep deprived behavior. “Percival, calm down.” she was trying to seem soothing. “What about this has you so worked up? Talk to me.”

“It’s madness.” He says, somewhat calmer now. “It doesn’t make sense, this thing was cobbled together from so many different parts from other motorcycles. And some parts aren’t even from motorcycles! Look here.” He turned around to the pages of notes and some printed pages littering his workbench. “This part is from a car, this one’s off a bomber plane, I think this might be from a lawnmower? Whoever made this is a very unhinged person.” 

“Percy how long has it been since you slept?” she asked.

“That depends, what day is it?” he said looking up at her.

“Percival!” she exclaimed, looking disappointed.

“It’s alright, I’m kidding.” He replied waving his hands at her. “I may have stayed up last night but I slept the night before and went to class yesterday.”

“Do you want to call today off and get some rest?” she looked at him with mild concern.

“No no, I’m alright. Let me just make some coffee and splash my face.” He remarked, getting up and walking towards the small kitchen in the corner of the shop.

“Well alright.” she said, looking over the dismantled machine in front of her “Is there anything we can actually accomplish today?”

“A lot actually,” he noted, returning from the kitchen with a cup of coffee. “The frame is fine, it’s all in one piece and I cleaned it up. We can reassemble the rear of the bike minus the drive chain, that was rusted through. Also I ordered some new tires because the existing ones were pretty much disintegrating, they should be arriving later today. That should probably keep us busy for now, I don’t really want to touch the engine yet anyway.”

“Wonderful. Let’s get started shall we?” she said, excited that they were beginning to rebuild her dream.

* * *

After a few hours of sweat and elbow grease, Vex’ahlia was elated to step back and see her pet project finally starting to come together. The tires had arrived later in the morning so they put them on the rims, the rear had been completely reassembled, and they had even been able to fit the seat on it. The seat base at least, most of the material had been eroded from the weather, she made a mental note to add that to the parts list.

“Well I think that’s enough progress for today.” Percy said, standing up from his seat on the floor.

“Already?!” she exclaimed, clearly upset they were stopping so soon. “It’s only 3 o’clock!”

“Yes I know darling but I don’t have anything else we can do right now and quite frankly,” he paused to yawn, “I kind of want to take a nap.”

Vex’ahlia chuckled at his last comment, “Alright Percy we can stop for the day. Come on, let’s walk back to the house.”

They closed up the shop and headed back up the driveway towards the house. They passed through the kitchen into the living room where Cass, Keyleth, and to both their surprise Kaylie were watching something on tv.

Vex walked up behind the couch where Keyleth was sitting leaning over to kiss her on the head. “Hey Key, you guys get tired of working too?”

“It got too hot,” she said not looking up from what they were watching. “We came in to cool off for a while but I guess we got distracted. We cleared out the weeds in one whole side of the garden though!” 

“That’s great babe,” she looked over at Cassandra. “Did you enjoy getting out into the garden today Cass?”

“Yes,” she turned to look at Vex, “I liked being able to see where mother spent so much time. It was… nice, sort of... reconnecting with her in a way.” she looked down and Percy slumped down on the couch next to her. Placing his hand on hers to try and comfort her. She looked up at him with what Vex would almost consider a smirk. “You smell terrible Brother”

Percival looking shocked at this startling light-hearted joke from his younger sister “Yes well now you do as well dear sister.” he replied while immediately wrapping both his arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

“No no no no no!” She exclaimed fighting him off, and for a second Vex thinks she sees a glimpse of the girl behind the mask, the young girl that used to be so brat-like and carefree, before all the trauma and heartbreak caused by the Briarwoods. She hopes Cassandra will be able to reclaim that one day. 

Suddenly remembering there was someone else in the room Vex looked over to see Kaylie watching all this happen with a smile. “Kaylie I didn’t know you were in town?”

The girl somewhat startled at being suddenly addressed, “Oh yeah, Ma decided to take a trip to Westruun for a week so I’m visiting. Scanlan said I could borrow his car while he was at work so I wasn’t stuck at the house, and Cassie invited me over.”

“Wonderful.” Vex replied, “maybe we can all have dinner together tomorrow night or something.”

“Yeah sounds fine,” she said. “I’ll tell Scanlan when I pick him up later.”

“Well if everyone will excuse me,” Percy interjected, “I’m going to go take a shower and pass out. Hopefully in that order. Vex, Keyleth lovely to see you both, have a good day. Kaylie feel free to make yourself at home.”

“Have a good nap Percival.” Vex said.

Keyleth pulled him into a hug, “Bye Percy!”

“See you later Cass, nice to see you again Kaylie” Vex commented as they walked to the door. As she and Keyleth walked out she caught a glimpse of Kaylie moving from her seat to the couch Cassandra was on. 

The two climbed back into the van, drove home, and ascended the stairs towards their apartment. As Keyleth began to unlock the door, suddenly she felt a pair of hands on her hips.

“Mmmmm, Kiki.” Vex’ahlia said, softly pressing herself against her girlfriend’s back. “What would you like to do with the rest of the afternoon?”

“Uhhh.” she stammered, slightly stunned at the situation. “I uh…. I get the impression you might already have something in mind.”

“Why darling whatever gave you that impression?” Vex replied sultrily as she slipped her hands under her Keyleth’s shirt and began moving further up her body, gently caressing her skin.

“Oh gods, Vex” she gasped, trying to hold herself together. “But, I’m covered in dirt. I should really shower.”

“What an excellent idea my love.” she said teasing as her hands continued on their journey. “I think, I’ll join you.”

Keyleth’s head hit the door softly, Vex’s hands having slipped under her sports bra and reached their destination. Gasping quietly as her girlfriend’s fingers brushed across her breasts. After a few seconds of stunned silence she pushed the door open and stepped in pulling her love inside with her and slamming the door behind them.


	4. Just make sure she knows how much you care

Scanlan Shorthalt wasn’t a large man, in fact the only one among his friends smaller than him was Pike, and even she could shove him over with very little effort. Not that this had ever bothered him, he was quite content with who he was most days. Today however, face to face with a bear-sized Malamute that was hungrily eyeing his take-out, he had to admit he felt a bit small. 

“Vex?” He called, turning towards her but not taking his eyes off Trinket. 

The group, minus a few, had gotten together for a movie night at Percy’s and Scanlan wasn’t really sure why the dog had been invited.

“Yes Scanlan darling?” She replied between bites.

“Is there a reason why Trinket needs to be here?” He asked, holding his meal a little closer after the large dog started licking his lips looking at his food.

“Well of course he has to be here.” She looked horrified at the thought that someone wouldn’t want her precious baby around, “he can’t just sit at home with no one there.”

“Well why couldn’t Vax watch him?” He questioned. 

“Vax is on a date.” She said 

“Yeah, with that uh, that glorious guy.” Grog interrupted, mouth full of food. His beard having almost fully grown back from Vax’s prank a few weeks ago.

“Shaun yes, Vax asked him to dinner the other day.” She replied, returning to her fried rice, seemingly happy for the change of subject. 

“Well why does he have to stare at me like that?” Scanlan asked, not letting it go. 

“He probably wants some of your food.” Pike pointed out, leaning out from her seat beside Grog’s towering form.

“Why my food though? I’m the only one here that didn’t order any meat!” He said

“What?!” Grog asked astonished, “what you mean you’re not eating any meat?”

“Yeah Scanlan ordered tofu Grog.” Keyleth piped up.

“Well yeah but, I just kinda assumed that was a meat I never heard of.” said Grog

“No,” Scanlan replied, “Kaylie’s got me on this vegan thing now. She said if she was gonna move in with me then she didn’t want me dying at 40 from too much red meat and such.”

“That’s a pretty serious turn around considering when she first met you she told you to fuck off and go die in a hole.” Vex added. “How’s that going by the way? Are you excited for her to move in?”

“I’m terrified honestly,” he said, “We just finally got onto level ground and I’m so worried that I’m going to mess up again. I just want to do this Dad thing right.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great Scanlan!” Pike exclaimed, leaning around Grog again.

“Thanks Pikey.” he said

“Percival?” Vex’ahlia said, looking over at Percy who had been quietly enjoying his food during the discussion.

“Yes darling how can I help you?” He replied

“Is Cassandra not coming down? I haven’t seen her all night, is she alright?” she asked

“She’s not actually here at the moment.” He said before looking up and realising everyone was staring at him. “What?”

“What do you mean she’s not here?” Vex asked surprised

“Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever seen her leave the grounds.” Keyleth remarked.

“Well,” Percy said, somewhat collecting his thoughts on the matter “She’s not here right now. She went with Kaylie to see that new monster movie.”

“‘Attack of the Chroma Conclaaaaave!!’” Grog added dramatically

“Yes that one.” Percy said, before returning to his dinner.

“Wait hold on!” Vex’ahlia exclaimed “Kaylie took a bus all the way from Kymal to come see a movie? And Cassandra went with her?”

“That’s not too terribly surprising honestly,” Scanlan chimed in, still trying to hold his food out of Trinket’s reach. “Kymal doesn’t have a theater, its too small.”

“So your daughter rode an hour on the bus to go see a movie with your sister who is borderline agoraphobic?” she said pointing at Scanlan and Percy

“I mean… They are kind of each other’s only friend.” Keyleth commented. “You can’t really blame them for going the extra mile to hang out.”

“Right…” Vex said poking at her rice.

The awkward silence that followed was suddenly broken by Scanlan who at this point was holding his bowl above his head while Trinket had his front paws up on top of the poor man trying to reach the food he was being denied. “For the love of Ioun! Vex please do something about your dog!”

* * *

Vex sat on the floor of Percy’s shop working to assemble the front brakes of her nearly completed motorcycle. The more they put it together the more excited she was becoming at the prospect of riding it. All that was really left at this point was the engine. Unfortunately, the engine was the part giving them the most trouble. The piecemeal nature of the bike meaning that all of the parts had to be very carefully coordinated in order for the motor to actually start. A problem that was beginning to frustrate Percival more and more.

“Oh for the love of Pelor!” The man shouted from over at his workbench where he was trying to assemble the engine. “Who in their right mind writes an engine manual in Draconic?! I mean honestly!”

Vex stopped her work turning to look at him, “Are you alright Percy?”

The man sighed before replying, “I didn’t really sleep well last night. Cass got home around 2am. So I mostly stayed up waiting for her.”

“I mean, 2am isn’t terribly late for a Friday night, right?” She responded, trying to ease his concerns

He looked at her with a somewhat unconvinced expression, “maybe not for a normal eighteen year old, but Cassandra?”

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” She said, “what do you think they were doing?”

“Gods only know.” He said, standing up to pace around the shop. “I just hope they weren’t out vandalising buildings or something. Who knows what she’d get up to with that girl.”

Vex stood up to face him and block his path, “Percy I don’t think that’s really fair of you. Just because Kaylie had a rough past doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. Or that she’s corrupting your sister.”

“I mean, I just-”

Vex didn’t let up, “Also I’d say Cassandra is a fairly good judge of character, and regardless of your opinions, she’s an adult and if she wants to be friends with Kaylie than that’s her choice to make.”

Percy looking somewhat defeated with Vex having chewed him out just sighed. “You’re right. I think I’m just, worrying too much. Because of… well you know.”

She crossed to hug him. “It’ll be alright Percy. Cass becoming more open with things isn’t the end of the world.”

“Yes well” he said breaking from the hug. “I should get back to figuring out this engine.”

“Wonderful idea, would you like some help reading the manual?” She asked smirking.

He stared at her, both intrigued at the idea that she knew an obscure language he didn’t, and annoyed at what he was pretty sure was a dig at him. “I’m sorry darling, are you saying that you can read draconic?”

Vex’ahlia smiled at him before walking over to the workbench where the manual was laid out. “Why yes I can, we have my asshole of a father and snobby boarding schools to thank for that.”

“Ah yes and how is that terrible man these days?” He meant it mostly as a lighthearted response but he sensed he might have struck a nerve from the way her previously excited attitude suddenly calmed.

She stood at the bench absentmindedly playing with a pen, intentionally not looking back at Percy. She didn’t really want to talk about her father but she couldn’t really blame him considering she brought it up. “Oh you know… still…. awful. Calling me by the wrong name, or worse, whenever he gets the chance. Vax lays into him whenever he does but… it still hurts you know.”

Percival wasn’t exactly sure how to help this situation so he decided to take a page out of Pike’s book and pull Vex into a hug. “He may be related to you, but he’s not your family. We’re all here for you whenever you need us.”

“Thank you Percy.” She said, now aware she’d been crying. “I don’t know what I’d do without you and the rest of our friends.”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Probably get thrown out of a shoe shop for trying to convince the clerk to give you the employee discount.”

“Okay look!” She said pointing at him threateningly. “That only happened once and for your information I am no longer banned from that store.”

Percy laughed at her response, “sorry darling, I saw the opportunity and I took it.”

“Yeah alright.” She said turning towards the manual spread across the workbench. “Let’s get this translated so you can put this motor back together.”

“Yes darling, whatever you say.” He replied chuckling at her mild annoyance.

* * *

“Okay, so how am I supposed to start this?” Vex’ahlia asked, standing astride her theoretically completed motorcycle. Her voice unsure with equal parts excitement and trepidation.

“You’ll have to kick it over.” He replied

“I’m sorry what?! You want me to kick it?” She questioned looking at Percy with an eyebrow raised.

“What? No, it’s a kickstart, so you’ll have stand on this pedal here, and put your weight into it.”

“Oh right… and we’re sure we put it together right? It's not going to explode?” She asked cautiously.

“Well if it does we’ll just take you to the ER and Pike can put you back together.” He said trying to hide a smile.

“That’s not funny Percy.” She replied, seeming annoyed.

“Sorry darling” he said, “I’m just trying to calm your nerves. It’ll be fine, everything has been properly reassembled.”

“Okay… here goes.” Vex summoned as much courage as she could muster and dropped her weight onto the kickstart causing the bike to roar to life. “Oh my gods!! Percy it works!!”

“Yes!! That’s fantastic!! We did it!” He shouted over the sound of the engine. “Go ahead and turn it off for now! We need to check the seals to make sure everything held up alright.”

“Oh my gods!! I’m so excited!” she said, stepping off the bike.

“Yes I can tell from the way you’re grinning from ear to ear and jumping up and down.” He replied. “You’re practically vibrating.”

“My heart is beating so fast oh my gods. Is this what being on drugs feel like?” She asked

“Vex’ahlia…” he said dryly, “If you’re reacting this strongly just from starting it are going to spontaneously combust when you finally get the chance to ride it? I’d hate to have built something that killed you from sheer excitement.”

“Oh come on Percy.” she whined. “Am I not allowed to be excited about this? I’ve been waiting for this moment since we first pushed this thing to your house a month ago.”

Percy’s sternness relaxed. “Excited is fine darling, I’m just worried that you’re going to start hyperventilating.”

“I’ll be alright,” she said waving off his mild concern. “It’s just an adrenaline rush. You know?”

“Yes I know,” he responded smiling at her. “It can be quite a rush when something you’ve worked hard on pays off.”

“Yeah… I know what you mean.” Vex said, thinking about her own journey.

“Now.” Percy exclaimed snapping her out of her moment of self-reflection. “We need to go over everything on the engine and make sure it held up to running.”

“Umm. Percy?” she asked

“Yes darling?” He replied looking over the motor to see what needed to be done.

“Would it be possible for you to do this part without me?I kind of want to run home and tell Keyleth and Vax the good news.” she asked coyly.

Percival looked at her or a second, wondering if he should make her stay and help since it was her bike after all, before relenting. “Yes that’s fine” he said after a moment of staring in her direction.

“Thank you so much Percy!” she shouted, pulling him into a hug before preparing to run out the door. She was stopped short however and looked back to see Percy’s hand on her wrist firmly holding her in place. “Is, everything alright Percival?”

He just stood there for a second still holding onto her wrist, maybe for some sense of being grounded, maybe trying to will forth the conversation he felt he needed to say. Finally he asked. “Vex, have you told Keyleth how much she means to you?”

Vex’ahlia felt blindsided by the question. Why wouldn’t Keyleth know how much she means to her? Why was Percy asking this at such a seemingly random moment. After a bit she responded. “Percy, she and I have been together for almost four months now. I’m fairly certain she knows how I feel about her.”

“Are you sure?” he asked

Vex was starting to become annoyed at this line of questioning. She snatched her hand away from his. “Of course I’m sure! Percy where is all of this coming from?”

“I just….” he stopped to think about what he wanted to say. Percy could be quite silver-tongued when he needed to, but talking about feelings was still something he could use practice with. “Keyleth’s my friend. And I see the way she looks at you. And she looks so in love, and so in awe of your presence, and just so happy to be with you.”

“Well of course she looks at me like that!” Vex almost shouting, “She’s my girlfriend!”

“Yes, but then I see the way she looks at everyone else that looks at you.” Percy seemed to have finally found his footing. “Everyone else that looks at you with so much lust, so much desire. And she sees them looking at you, and Vex she looks so scared.”

Vex’s mood suddenly shifts from annoyed to worried. “Scared of what Percy?”

“Scared that you’ll leave her I assume.” He responded calmly. “Scared that she’s just another girlfriend. Scared that even though you care about her, maybe you don’t care about her as much as she cares about you.”

“Why would she think that?” Vex asked, tears starting to well up.

“Have you met her?” He replied. “I love her dearly but she doesn’t have a lot in the way of self-confidence.”

“What should I do?” she asked.

Percy pulled her into a hug. “Just… Just make sure she knows how much you care. How much you love her.”

“Alright” Vex said, wiping tears out of her eyes before hugging Percy tight. “I’ll try to do that.”

“Sorry for making you cry darling.” he said.

“It’s alright.” she replied “You know you’re remarkably good at relationship advice considering how terrified you are of talking to that pompous Darrington boy in your class.”

“Oh no, that is a mess we will have to unpack another day.” He said breaking away from the hug. “Now you run along home and I’ll finish checking these seals.”

“Alright. Thank you Percy.” she pulled him into another tight hug before turning and heading for the door and the walk home. She had a lot to think about on the way.


	5. Do you want to come with me?

Vex’ahlia was woken up at what she could only assume was an ungodly hour seeing how the sun hadn’t risen, by her phone buzzing loudly. She blindly answered in an attempt to quickly silence it and not wake Keyleth. Rolling over to see if her girlfriend had stirred she breathed a sigh of relief at the soft snores still coming from her side of the bed. Keyleth may be a morning person but she was definitely a heavy sleeper. Vex crept out of the room to so she could chew out the offending caller without waking anyone. Once she was safely in the kitchen she held the phone up to her ear. 

“Hello?!” she said into the phone, more of an annoyed declaration than it was a question. 

There was a long pause on the other line and Vex was on the verge of speaking up again before she heard the caller clear their throat and say. “Hello...” And the formerly groggy woman was now very much awake at the sound of her father’s voice.

She sighed. “Of all the people in Exandria to call me at 5am on a saturday. Why did it have to be you?” 

“I tried to call Vax’ildan but his phone was apparently off. So…” there was a long pause. Clearly he wanted to talk to her about as little as she did him. “So instead I called you-”

“You had better not call me anything other than ‘Vex’ahlia’ or ‘Daughter’ else this conversation will end up being far shorter than you had intended.” she snapped. She didn’t want to talk to him, especially not at five in the morning, but if she had to then she was going to lay some ground rules.

He sighed, she could only assume it was from annoyance that he would have to play by her rules if he wanted to relay any kind of information. “Well, we’ll see… I called you to remind you that Velora’s birthday is coming up next month. And while I’m aware that neither of us are fans of interacting with each other, your sister has thoroughly requested to see the both of you, apparently. Also I’m… sorry for calling so early, it’s already morning here in Syngorn.”

Vex stood there a moment stunned, firstly that her father was doing his best to be civil and secondly because she was astonished that he would ever apologise for anything let alone something that inconvenienced her. After a minute she responded, “Just Vax and I? Some sort of small dinner party I assume?”

“Yes gods just the two of you please.” He replied, “Devana’s still upset with me for Velora learning ‘blue sparkly poos’ from one of your strange friends.”

Vex almost laughed at that but remembered that she was trying to be frigid and bold. “Alright, send us the time and place and Vax and I will drive down or take a train or something.”

“Great, I’ll be in touch. Bye” he said hanging up abruptly.

She stayed standing in the kitchen a moment. Collecting her thoughts from the last week. Her conversation with Percival, the surprisingly civil chat with her father, the prospect of going to Syngorn again, Keyleth. She was pulled from her thoughts by the creak of a floorboard and she looked up to see her brother standing at the door to the kitchen. 

“So, dad?” he asked.

“Yeah, Velora wants us to visit for her birthday.” she replied.

He nodded. “Everything go alright?”

She nodded back. “Yeah, he behaved.”

“Good.” he walked over and pulled his twin into a hug.

She hugged him back, her eyes watering. Her brother may be an ass sometimes, and a prankster others, but he was still her brother. And she was happy that she had him with her all those terrible years with her father. Their touching moment came to an end when she sniffled and her nose was filled with some sort of very pungent cologne.

“Gods Vax, what are you wearing?” she asked rubbing her eyes.

“Hmm? Oh. I think Shaun’s cologne might be a little overpowering.” he replied, chuckling slightly “He left a few hours ago.”

“Well,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Glad to see that’s, going well.”

“Yeah yeah laugh it off Stubby.” he responded

“No, really,” she said smiling, “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks Vex.” he replied pulling her into a half hug “Now come on, let’s head back to our respective beds.”

She pushed herself free of him. “No you go ahead.”

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah I just…” she looked back towards the kitchen. “I think I want to make Keyleth breakfast in bed.”

* * *

Vex was tearing through the woods on the nature trail towards Percy’s house as fast as she could. She had just barely gotten home and set down her books when she’d got the text from him.

 **Percy:** _Vex I need you to come to the shop as fast as you can. I was working on the bike. Something happened. It’s bad. Please hurry._

Keyleth wasn’t there to drive her, and she was already fairly tired from having walked home from class and climbing the stairs to her apartment but that wasn’t going to stop her from running towards Whitestone as fast as she could. They were all supposed to meet up later for dinner to celebrate her and Vax’s birthday but that didn’t matter right now. Sure her bike might be damaged, that much was clear from the message, but worse still Percy might be hurt. She kept up her pace as best she could, leaping over a log and dodging a passing car when she crossed the road and finally she made it to the side gate of Percy’s house. She punched in the code and headed straight for the shop, no time to knock on the door and see if she could go through the house so she’d have to go around. As she rounded the corner she saw the garage and silently cursed Percy for never opening the doors. She made it down the hill and practically slammed into the door, throwing it open and running inside. “Percy are you alright?!? I came as soon as-”

“SURPRISE!!! Happy Birthday!!”

Vex was stunned. Heaving breaths from the marathon she’d just run, she looked around the room. All of her friends, Grog, Percy safe and sound, Vax, Keyleth, Pike, Scanlan, and even Trinket. Standing around a motorcycle. Her motorcycle? It couldn’t be her motorcycle. It was beautiful.

“What’s going on?!” She asked still breathing heavily.

“Sorry for the shock darling” Percy responded first. “I just couldn’t think of a way to get you here that wouldn’t make you suspicious. And to be fair it was Keyleth’s idea”

“Not the scaring her part!” she said running over to hug Vex. “So I wanted to do something nice for your birthday. And I asked Percy how long it would take to have the bike painted and prettied up and stuff. And he and Grog did most of the work.”

“We took it apart and I found a place in town that does paint and chrome.” Percy replied. “We all chipped in.”

Vex walked over to the bike. It was gorgeous. Gleaming chrome, white dragonscale designs, blue feathers. She brushes her hand over some Elvish script on the side of the gas tank, “Death From Above?”

“Yes it was painted onto the side of one of the old parts we replaced,” he said “It seemed too interesting not to keep it.”

“All of you… did this for me?” she looked around at all of her friends, her family.

“Course we did!” Grog piped up.

“Happy birthday Vex!” Pike exclaimed.

Vax pulled her into a hug, “Happy birthday Stubby.”

She hugged him back, “Happy birthday to you too.”

“Well aren’t you going to ride it?” Scanlan chimed in.

Vex blinked herself out of her stunned silence. Suddenly remembering that, yes riding it was very much something she could and wanted to do. “Yes I’d love to!” she exclaimed to cheers from her friends. “It’s just…” she turned to Keyleth. “Darling?”

“What’s wrong Vex?” she asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is wonderful Key.” she said, pulling her girlfriend close. “I was just wondering… do you want to come with me?”

“Wait what?” Keyleth replied.

“Do you want to come with me on the bike? She reiterated. “For its first ride.”

“I uh… yeah.” she said smiling at her love. “I’d like that. Won’t I need a helmet though?”

“I got an extra one for you.” Percy said appearing next to them. “I left it in the house unfortunately.”

“I’ll run and get it!” Vex said dashing back up to the house. She was tired from all the running but it didn’t matter, this was important to her. She hurried up the back steps, through the kitchen, and past the living room, towards the entryway where Percy said he left it when it arrived today. After acquiring her prize she started to head back towards the shop but heard some quiet shuffling in the living room, she backed up to peek around the corner. Laying on the couch across the room was one somewhat ruffled-looking Cassandra de Rolo. Laying on top of her, was an equally ruffled-looking Kaylie Shorthalt sporting what would seem to be some of Cassandra’s lipstick. Both girls seemed to have an expression very akin to a deer in the headlights. They looked at each other, before looking back to Vex mildly panicked. She smiled a knowing grin before turning and heading back to the shop shouting, “Carry on girls, I saw nothing.” 

She returned to the shop and all her friends brandishing the spare helmet victoriously before handing it to Keyleth. “Are you ready to go Key?”

“Oh, yeah! Are you sure?” she asked nervously looking down at the helmet. “If you’d rather go on your first ride without me that’s okay.”

“Keyleth.” she put her hand on her girlfriend’s face, lifting her chin up to look her in the eyes. “I would love for you to come with me. If you want to?”

She thought for a moment before smiling at Vex, “Yes, I’d love to.”

“Wonderful. Let’s go!” Vex said walking over to her beautiful new bike and donning the matching helmet before taking Keyleth by the hand, helping her up onto the passenger seat, and standing astride the bike in front of her. She took a deep breath before stepping up onto the kickstart and starting the motorcycle up. Keyleth jumped at the noise and wrapped her arms around Vex tightly. She opened the throttle and took off up the drive towards the gate and out onto the main road driving into the setting sun.

* * *

Vex pulled the bike to a stop at a rest area on the coastal highway south of Emon. She put down the kickstand and turned off the engine before noticing that Keyleth’s arms were still firmly wrapped around her.

“Darling?” she asked turning look towards her girlfriend and realising her eyes were tightly closed. She chuckled slightly at the sight. “Kiki, as much as I love being held in your arms, we’ve stopped dear.”

“Oh!” the taller woman said after opening her eyes and releasing her arms, “sorry I just got nervous after that last turn.” 

“It’s alright love.” Vex swung her leg over the bike turning to better see her love. “Did you enjoy the ride at least?” she asked placing her hand on Keyleth’s face, stroking her beautifully freckled face with her thumb.

“Yeah, it was really fun.” she said, blushing at her girlfriend’s touch. “Thank you for asking me to come along.”

Vex leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips causing Keyleth’s face to redden even further. “You’re very much welcome darling. Now come on, let’s stretch our legs for a bit before we head back. Hand me your helmet Key.” 

She took both the helmets and slung them over the handlebars before turning to see that Keyleth had walked over to the handrail that looked out over the Ozmit Sea towards the sunset. She walked over to join her love and watch the sun fall over the horizon. Hooking her arm around Keyleth’s Vex’ahlia looked up at the woman she loved, so brilliantly lit by the sunset. She looked like a wildfire, so beautiful in the setting sun, her curly red hair waving in the wind like flames, catching every ray of burning orange sunlight. She stood in awe of this wonderful woman that she cared so so much for. So quirky and well beyond knowledgeable in her fields, sometimes awkward but endearing. So full of caring for the ones that meant the most to her. This beautiful, blazing, beacon of love. And Vex knew that she always wanted to be by her side, and experience life together. Vex laced her fingers into her love’s and leaned her head gently against the shoulder of the much taller woman.

“Keyleth?” she said, so softly Vex wondered if she would even hear it.

“Yes Vex?” she replied, not looking away from the sunlit waves, almost seeming entranced.

She looked up into the brilliant jade green eyes of this woman that she loved, willing her emotions forward out from behind her normal suave and charismatic defenses. Pouring every ounce of her heart into how she felt. “Keyleth, I…. I love you.”

Those jewel-like emerald eyes turned to meet her softer brown ones, staring in awe. Her face a mix wonder and nervousness that soon melted into an absolutely heartwarming smile. Tears started to form in the corners of those loving eyes before being blinked away. She squeezed Vex’s hand in her’s and leaned down to press a soft, loving kiss to her lips. 

“I love you too Vex.”

**Author's Note:**

> I read all of the Vexleth fic on this site and didn't know what to do with myself so I wrote my own.  
> So hai there this is my first fic and I was terrified of posting it.  
> A few things:  
> This will be a part of an ongoing series, or at the very least a sequel will happen  
> The only reason I included Blanston in this story is because it narratively gave me the chance to make him a garbage man and since his player is a garbage man it works out nicely.  
> If you like this work come find me on tumblr and I'll share backstory tidbits with peoples that want to ask.  
> <3


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